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Big Color, Small Budget |
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I confess: I am addicted to color. My passion is intense eye-grabbing
combinations of plants that look good over a long period of time.
If you want lots of color in your garden, but have a small budget,
read on. Hopefully you can benefit from my experience growing
a country garden under tough conditions in southern Ontario, Canada
(United States Department of Agriculture zone 5; Agriculture
and Agri-Food Canada zone 6a).
The plants I list below are the ones that have thrived and provided
lots of color for their price. They may be some of the best investments
you can make for your own colorful garden.
But first, a tip: opt for double-duty plants. Flowering
plants are often picked for the color of their blooms alone. In
my garden, I demand more – you should too. Why not enjoy
the leaf color, the texture and the shape of the whole plant while
you wait for the blooms?
Worthwhile annuals to buy each year
Plants typically grown in containers often do even better in your
garden.
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- Wave petunia (Petunia x hybrida):
A prolific grower, it can fill quite a large area
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New Avalanche and Wave varieties of petunias (white
and fuchsia flowers, right) will cover a large area
with a blanket of flowers. |
- Sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas):
Its color can be lime green, blackish-red
or tricolor (pink, white and green).
This plant looks great as both a complement and a
contrast to other colors in the garden.
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- Geranium (Pelargonium): Try
some of the types with variegated foliage, which
have beautiful patterns on their leaves in shades
of yellow, pink or red. They also sprout vibrantly
colored flowers.
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- Tropicana (Canna x generalis 'Tropicana'):
It has orange-, green- and scarlet-striped
leaves and grows up to two metres tall. Hummingbirds
love its intense-hued orange blooms. This
plant grows and multiplies so well, you will want
to keep it over winter in a frost-free place.
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- Purple fountain grass (Pennisetum setaceum
'Rubrum'): Showy burgundy leaves complement
the pinkish-purple foxtail blooms that cover this
elegant, but expensive, grass.
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